A Bit Too Much Butterbeer
by Heffalump Army
Summary: 1st FF. What starts off as Lily having too much to drink and throwing herself at James leads to a plan, created entirely to get them and a few others together without their knowledge. It's better than it sounds. Please review!
1. Buttered Up

**This is my first fanfic! It's intended to be a oneshot but I'm not really sure. It kind of depends on if I get any ideas or if I get reviews that actually want me to write another one. I did this one really late last night, so this isn't exactly my best work, but I hope you like it! Feel free to berate me endlessly about how I can fix it! Suggestions appreciated:)**

**Oh yeah, and if you think any of the characters belong to me, you're a bloody idiot. -bows-**

Lily Evans had never been the type of girl to be irresponsible. As a matter of fact, Miss Evans had even landed herself the position of Head Girl, though seeing as how that idiot James Potter managed to get Head Boy, I suppose that's a little lower on the list of bragging rights. Anyway, Lily had never been a real risk taker. She'd been well liked, of course, but she'd never been a party girl. She'd never wanted to and she'd never been tempted, until one of the girls just a year older, from 7th year, was bothering her about it.

"Come on Evans, just a bit of butter beer! Celebrate with the rest of us! Have some house pride! Nobody expected we'd win in a million years!"

"Yeah but we'd be celebrating Potter," Lily laughed.

"Well not _really_," the 7th year laughed. "Besides, it's not _that_ strong." Which was true, after all. They couldn't get you liquored up unless you had… maybe… several rather large amounts?

Several rather large amounts later, Lily Evans felt slightly invincible. She grinned to herself and knocked back another glass of butter beer. Nobody had noticed how much she drank until she nearly dropped the glass and started slurring her words.

"An' I di'n want to drink this!" she hiccupped. "I can see why I should have now!" she grinned with a laugh. Then clapping she reached for another glass.

"Evans, are you ok?" The 7th year raised an eyebrow.

"YES!"

"She's _drunk_!" Sirius Black half-laughed as he walked over to her. And then suddenly an idea came to him. Amazing, right?

"SHH! It's a _secret_," Lily hissed rather loudly as she put a finger to her lips.

"Want to know another secret?" Sirius whispered to her.

"Shh… suuuuurrrrrrre." She beamed.

"Alright. See that boy up there? The one with the black hair and glasses? That boy wants you to kiss him."

"ME?" Lily half-yelled, then grabbed her head.

"Yeah? I mean… Yeah! Oh yeah, go over there Evans!" The 7th year smirked behind Lily.

"Well I don't know…"

"Well if you're _scared_, I mean, it's ok. That boy over there told me you would be. I didn't think so. I said to myself 'Lily Evans a coward? No way!' but I guess he proved me wrong…" Sirius sighed.

"I am not!"

"Prove it!"

"I WILL!" Lily snapped and she waltzed right up to James Potter and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I… I'm going to kiss you," she slurred and then her knees buckled. James gaped at her for a second as he saw her drop to her knees.

"Lily?"

"Don't yell!" She said, grabbing her head.

"I'm not…" James trailed off. "Is she drunk?" He snapped to the entire common room. Snickers emitted from everywhere. With a sigh, James got down and stood her up, throwing one of her arms around his neck. "Come on, we're going to get you to bed, ok?"

"No! Lemme kiss you!" James let out a bitter laugh and glared at Sirius as he hoisted a protesting Lily Evans over his shoulder. She screamed all the way to their Head dorms. As James reached the door to Lily's room he let out a loud groan.

"Shit Lily, you didn't even trust me enough not to hex your door?" he whispered.

"Password?" The doorknob hissed at him.

"Do you not see her in my arms right now?"

"Password?" the doorknob blinked at him.

"I DON'T KNOW THE BLOODY PASSWORD!"

"DON'T YELL!" Lily grabbed her head as she yelled even louder than James.

"Sorry, sorry!" He almost laughed.

"No password, no entry."

"She lives by that doesn't he?" he laughed to himself. Normally she would've slapped him for it, but Lily was clueless and merely laughed with him. "C'mon Evans, you can stay in my room."

"I jus… just wanted a _kiss_," she said flatly.

"No, you're going to sleep in my bed. Not with me though."

"You're going to leave me alone?"

"Well I don't really fancy the idea of sleeping on the floor."

"Who are you?" she beamed at him.

"I'm nobody Lily. Come on." He kicked his door open and sat her on the bed. He took her shoes off and then tucked her in.

"I'm not going to bed," she said sadly.

"And why is that?"

"Because Mommy always tucks me in," she beamed again. James stared at her incredulously.

"Well… too bad," James said in what he'd hoped was a stern voice.

"Please?"

"Lily," he said in a pleading voice, then sighed, "Why don't you drink this?" He handed her a small flask of what appeared to be juice. He'd conjured it up to make her headache go away. As she hopped out of bed she spilled the juice all over her.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" She looked like she was going to cry as the juice made her clothes cling to her. For the life of him, James could not remember the spell that would fix this, but he sighed and grabbed some clothes from his dresser.

"It's ok, calm down. Here. Change into these."

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I… Help me?" He glared at her. God he wanted to help her, he really did, but she'd kill him the next day, assuming she remembered any of it.

"You're…" James looked at his shoes, "Acriphio!" He pointed his wand at her and she was now dressed in his pajamas. Thank God for Sirius and his obsession with normally pointless spells.

"Thank youm Mister," she smiled shyly.

"No prob Lils. Come on, go to bed." She sighed and nodded, jumping onto the bed.

"Sit with me?" she asked weakly.

"Just for a bit though, ok?"

"Thank you James," she smiled again. She knew his name now, at least.

"Um… no prob Lily," he smiled back. She lay down immediately and her eyes slammed shut. She grabbed his hand and began stroking it softly with her thumb, smiling to herself. James felt himself go red. _Down boy_. Then suddenly he heard her soft snores and smiling inwardly, he forced himself to let go of her hand and go to the couch downstairs.

"James?" He almost came out of his skin when he heard Lily's voice near tears.

"Lily?" He heard her soft footsteps and then he felt her lay next to him on the couch. He clapped the lights on. "Lily, why aren't you in bed?"

"I had a bad dream," she mumbled.

"Oh." He didn't know what else to say.

"Could you…" she stopped, her face blushing red.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed," he smiled softly as she scooped her up. She put her arms around his neck and just as he reached the first step she kissed him. James nearly dropped her. "Lily! Stop it," he hissed. He was pissed at himself. _How could I let her do that? I took advantage of her. God, I suck!_

"What if I don't want to?" she snapped.

"Well that's just too damn bad, isn't it?" He laughed as he regained his composure and carried her up the stairs.

"I'll stop if you sleep in here."

"What?"

"I'll stop if you-"

"I heard you. Why do you want me in here?"

"I had a bad dream," she said looking at her feet.

"No," he sighed. "Evans, I can't." Just as they reached the top of the stairs she shoved him onto the bed hard. "I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't, ok?" She had him pinned down now. She leaned forward and kissed him again and for a moment he let her. Then he snapped out of it. "LILY!" She looked at him hurt. "Look, if you stop I'll stay, ok?"

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." She kissed him again.

"Evans, come on, stop."

"James, I love you."

"No, you don't, Evans."

"No, I really do," she grinned again, forcing his lips to meet hers.

"Lily, I'm not staying in here if you don-" She kissed him. "Stop it or I'm leaving right now Evans!"

"But… Why are you mad that I love you? Hm?" She demanded lazily.

"You don't."

"Why do you say that?"

"In the morning you won't, ok?"

"Then I don't want to go to sleep."

"EVANS!"

"You won't leave me, will you?"

"Not if you go to bed," he sighed.

"Ok." She smiled blankly at him and fell fast asleep.

Lily Evans woke to a rather loud pounding noise. Rather than see what it was, however, she snuggled closer to the thing that kept her warm. It felt so right, being next to it, laying flat on its back, one arm around her. She nuzzled her head against James' chest._ I am most certainly not snuggling with-_

"Jamesie boy!" Sirius Black's voice barked from behind the door. Suddenly it was thrust open with a bang as he and Remus Lupin came bounding in ready to jump on the bed. It was then that they saw the flaming red face of Lily Evans rivaling her hair.

"What?" James jerked awake suddenly.

"Oy! My god, is that who I think that is?" Sirius was grinning more broadly than Lily had ever seen before.

"It's not what you think Padfoot!"

"Looks like our little Lilykins got more than that kiss!" He roared with laughter. Remus looked at them both, unsure of whether to demand an explanation or laugh along with him. He couldn't help it though and fell to the ground laughing. You had to admit, it was a bit compromising.

"WHAT KISS?" Lily's eyes were wide open.

"Nothing Lily-"

"Oh god," Remus groaned, fighting back laughter.

"Oh my… You guys nothing happened!" Lily jumped out of bed. She had James' clothes on. She gaped at him.

"Nothing happened! He bellowed."

"Then how do you explain that?" Sirius had tears in his eyes.

"She got stuff on her other clothes!"

"Oh yeah, I bet she did."

"That's disgusting Black!" Lily shouted. "Get out!" Her face was glowing now.

"This isn't your room Lilykins," Sirius smiled proudly.

"GET OUT PADFOOT!" James bellowed.

"Traitor," Sirius grinned, sticking his tongue out at James. "I suppose you haven't finished then? You going back for more then Lily?" He slammed the door shut as most of the contents of James' trunk came straight at him.

"What the bloody hell happened?"

"Lily, you wouldn't stop…" he trailed off. "You just got drunk and I stayed in here to make sure you were ok, that's all." Lily was ignoring him though. She was staring at her feet. Her face had lost its color for a moment but as she slowly regained her memory, it quickly came back. She shook her head.

"You… me…I… oh gosh… we… no… kissed…"

"Lily, I'm really sorry-"

"Sorry," she repeated to herself, laughing, "You're sorry. James Potter is sorry."

"You think I don't mean it?" He gaped at her.

"No," she laughed again. "You're an idiot." She kept laughing though she refused to look at him.

"Evans, I swear, I didn't mean it. Let's just tell everyone what a bad guy I am and you're reputation is fine."

"My reputation."

"Yes, your reputation."

"Potter, what happened?"

"I took advantage of you being… not yourself… and I let you kiss me and cuddle me."

"You're lying."

"Nope."

"James, what happened?"

"I let you have your way with me but no, we didn't sleep toge-" Lily reached forward and slapped James across the face. "Guess I deserved that…"

"Potter, tell me what happened," her voice shook.

"Evans, I'm a bad guy. We all know it, so now, I know you don't want to believe it, but you know-"

"Potter!" her eyes were pleading now.

"I never could say no to those eyes Evans… so why do you think I did?"

"POTTER!" her voice was shaking but there was no changing his mind, she knew. He wouldn't tell her that she'd been forcing herself on him. She wanted to think she hadn't made an idiot of herself but she really couldn't. She knew he had shoved her off of him. She glared at him as he got up and slammed him back on the bed. They were both slightly shaken, though Lily visibly much more so. As soon as he tried to get up she shoved him onto the bed again. She climbed over him and pinned him down, though they both knew he could easily get up if he wanted to.

"Something like this?" She hissed at him. He shook his head and she leaned in and forced him to kiss her, forced him to face her. He knew she was pissed. He could tell. He gaped at her and pushed her away.

"Nothing like it." She grabbed him by the wrist and pushed him against the door, kissing him again. She kept making him kiss her. He could feel her anger but he wasn't going to confirm it. She grabbed her shoe from the floor and threw it at him. She grabbed everything she could get into her hands and threw it at him, but James never even asked her to stop it.

"WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING ME?" She bellowed.

"Evans, how am I protecting you?"

"You won't tell me."

"It's torturing you."

"That's not why and you know it!" She slammed him into the door. She was acting like she was three and she didn't care. She reached up to hit him when she saw the look on his face. Her hand dropped and she grabbed his hand. "James," she whispered.

"Why do you want to know so bad?"

"I have the right to know!"

"Fine," he almost spat. Then more calmly he said, "Look I understand you didn't know what you were doing. Sirius and Elise were egging you on too, so there's no way anyone could even think of blaming you-"

"What did I do?" She almost laughed.

"They got you to come up to me and kiss me. Kind of. You didn't do it. I carried you to your room but you'd put a spell on your door…" Lily groaned. "Anyway, so I put you up here and you spilled some stuff for the headache you had on your clothes. I didn't remember the spell to clean you off so I just put those on you." Looking at her horrified face, he added quickly, "With my wand of course! I didn't see anything."

"So then what happened?"

"Well you had a bad dream, so you went down stairs and whenIcarriedyouupwekissed and then in order to um… get you to calm down a bit I slept in here."

"What was that last part?" She asked very seriously, trying to keep the smile off her face. She knew what happened, but knowing it made him uncomfortable somehow made her extremely happy.

"We fell asleep?" He offered hopefully.

"No, when you carried me?"

"Oh… yeah, I did."

"Yeah, what happened?"

"Look, I know you had your fill of butter beer, ok? You have to understand that."

"James, get on with it."

"Well I'm just saying, it wasn't your fault. Being the smart girl you were though, you remembered suddenly why you'd approached me in the first place today. So you kissed me while I was carrying you. Then you promised not to kiss me again if I would stay with you."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry Lily, I really am."

"Why?!"

"I let you kiss me…"

"Potter, I kissed you."

"But…"

"James, you didn't do anything!"

"I'm a pig!"

"Yeah, but you weren't one last night," Lily smirked.

"Hey!"

"What?" Lily batted her eyelashes innocently. As they faced each other, they suddenly found themselves blushing furiously. James was the first to break the silence.

"Hey Evans?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not going to stop kissing you until you agree to sleep with me," James announced.

"Oh you're a riot Potter, you know that?"

"Oh come on, Evans! You know you want me."

"Oh _please_," Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'll be wanting my clothes back."

"Well I suppose that's just too damn bad, isn't it?" Realizing the situation he'd been in when _he'd_ said it, James felt a blush creeping up his neck. She smirked and threw her other shoe at him.

"Hey, I'm serious!" He laughed, running to catch up with her as she skipped out of the room.

"No, _that_ is," she jabbed her head towards Sirius, who had been listening to their conversation. He was now howling next to Lupin.

"Awwwww, kissy kissy!"

"BLACK!" Lily hissed.

"Oh kiss me!" He threw his arms around Lupin, who roared with laughter.

"Oh you guys are so immature," Lily snapped.

"Were _we_ the ones throwing the tantrum _Missy_?"

"OUT!" She screamed.

"Yes _Mrs. Potter_," Lupin managed between laughs.

"OUT OUT OUT NOW! Sheesh Potter, you picked a great bunch of friends, you know that?"

"Sorry Mrs. Potter," James winked. Nobody seemed to catch it except Lily. Normally she would've at least scowled and told him off, but somehow nothing came to her and she just stood there gaping at him. James at least expected to be in desperate need to duck soon, but when Lily winked at him and hurried them out, the blush grew across his face. He scowled at her smirk.

"Out, Mr. Potter," she scowled, regaining her composure. As she slammed the door she slid down against it and sighed. "I kissed James Potter," she laughed out loud. The door was pushed slowly, moving Lily just enough to allow a crack in the door.

"Love you too Lilykins," he smirked.

"DAMNIT POTTER, GET OUT." They both scowled at each other. As James reached the end of the stairs, James fell against the wall.

"I kissed Lily Evans."


	2. The First Task

**FINALLY! Woo-hoo. Half a year later and I've updated this... Granted, I've deleted 5 or so chapters and changed the plot pretty much, but it's not cliche anymore! (I hope.) I hate the fact that most of what I've written is extremely cliched. Like... an unecessary amount of cliche. **

**So without further ado... here is the most un-cliche story I can write... **

**Enjoy!**

**And, also, none of this belongs to me. Except one of my favorite characters (because I'm conceited that way), the newly introduced, Charlotte.**

* * *

Lily Evans had befriended a lot of boys in the time that she'd been at Hogwarts. Of these, she'd gotten close to a fair amount, and even developed crushes on some of them. She'd even kissed a few. But what Lily Evans did _not_ do was befriend, get to know, develop a crush on, or _kiss _James Potter. 

_And yet here we are_, the voice in her head taunted. It had been harassing her since she'd started throwing things at James and forcing herself on him for the _second_ time in 24 hours. She wanted to kill the voice. She wanted to put some sort of unforgivable curse on it until it bloody shut up. But then she realized that it was her head… and that might hurt. Though, at this point, she was ready to do anything to forget what had just happened.

She'd kissed James Potter. Like… on_ purpose_. More than once. She'd forced herself on him. She'd slept in the same bed as him. _Does that make me a whore? _Lily groaned. For all she knew, he had another girlfriend. For all she knew, his girlfriend was one of her friends! They'd all admitted that, at one point or another, they'd fancied him. Except maybe Charlotte, her best friend. But even then, sometimes she couldn't be sure. Though you couldn't always tell, what with her shouting at them all the time, she'd grown up with James- with the Marauders as soon as _he_'d met them. They'd been close. They used to respect and trust her. Now was different, of course. _Now _they harassed her same as Lily, _but_ with, if it was at all possible, _respect_. Well… except Sirius Black.

_It could be worse. I mean, it _could've_ been Sirius. He would've taken advantage of me if I'd have thrown myself at him like that. Or he would've humiliated me for doing it._ She groaned inwardly once more.

_But James didn't,_ the voice added maliciously. _James helped you. __He saved your ass and you _owe_ him. After all the mean things you've said to him, after all the times he's chased you-_ Suddenly avada kedavra looked tempting.

She wanted- no, _needed_ distraction, but she didn't want to leave. Then again, there was a good chance of James having to come back and get something. After all, he had left in his pajamas. _Because of you._ He would have to come back. She raced up the stairs, changed her clothes, and bolted for the door. _Coward._ The voice would not shut up, and Lily found herself growing paranoid. She could've sworn she'd heard the door open and shut no sooner than she'd gotten upstairs. But when she checked, there was nobody in sight. She shrugged and crept into the common room, ready to sprint to the library should any sign of a Marauder show up. To her relief (and mild surprise at her luck), however, the only person who occupied the common room from her year was her best friend, Charlotte.

Lily tilted her head slightly. Charlotte looked pale. True, she had fair skin, but she looked a sickly grey and her raven-colored hair was messier than usual. As soon as Lily approached the table, her head snapped up and Lily was met with the all-too-familiar gaze of someone who'd had very little sleep. The usual rather sneaky glint in Charlotte's blue eyes were gone.

"Are you alright?" Even as she stared at Lily, she looked startled to see that anybody was in the room.

"Yeah, just… didn't get much sleep," she laughed. "Important business, if you remember." Lily nodded. She'd forgotten about…_ that_.

"Chocolate frog?" Charlotte tossed her one as she scribbled furiously on a notepad before her. "I've been eating 'em to keep me awake. It didn't work too well, but hey, it's chocolate. I don't need a reason." She let out a small, very exhausted laugh.

"Thanks," Lily gave a small smile as she took the chair next to Charlotte.

"So, how was the party?" She added brightly. "I heard some girl got drunk and left with James." Lily, who had been trying to get a look at what Charlotte had been writing, nearly choked on her frog. Thankfully, Charlotte seemed too tired to notice.

"Erm, did you? I…" _Tell her! She's your best friend!_ "I don't think so. But, I wouldn't know... I mean... He's such a git! When would _I _ever pay attention to what _he_ does?" _Coward_.

"Oh," Charlotte shrugged. "It's just something I heard is all." She eyed Lily suspiciously. "Elise told me you'd know all about it." Lily stiffened. Charlotte didn't sound like she was accusing her, so she supposed she didn't know. She just knew Lily was probably hiding something. But _Elise! _Elise knew, and she _could_ tell Charlotte.

"Elise is full of it." Charlotte, clearly too tired to argue, let out an enormous sigh.

"Eh, it figures. She's always trying to start rumors about everybody else. Like, remember what she said about me and James? Oh my god, remember what she said about Si-" She stopped, looking rather troubled. "Doesn't matter though. I believe you. Anyway, do you fancy some breakfast? Breakfast sounds good. Yeah... breakfast. Right. I'm starving." Her stomach growled before she'd finished her sentence.

"Sounds like it," Lily laughed, ignoring her friend's sudden jumpiness; it was only fair, really. After all, Charlotte wasn't exactly interrogating _her_. "Yeah, I haven't gone to breakfast yet either. Come on."

And then it hit her. _What if James is at breakfast? It's not as if I can tell her I want to go back _no_w! I mean, really! It'd just look too suspicious. Crap! With my luck, the only seat left is going to be right between him and Sirius or something..._

* * *

As luck should have it, Lily _did_ see James, but only for a moment. No sooner had she turned the corner to enter than she saw him racing out of the Great Hall in his pajamas, Peter jogging rather comically behind him. 

"Are you alright?" He was calling after James. "You nearly left the map!"

"_Alright_ then…" Charlotte glanced at Lily.

"How should I know?" Lily snapped suddenly. "I mean... w-what a moron. Apparently he's forgotten how to change his clothes again." They were approaching their usual spot and Lily, her thoughts obviously not on the bench, nearly missed it altogether.

"Coming from the girl who forgot to sit down," Charlotte smirked.

"I'm just tired is all."

"Yeah, I heard you had a pretty _rough_ night," Sirius Black chimed in. _Crap._

"Nobody quite likes to hear themselves talk like Sirius," Charlotte mumbled just loud enough for him to hear.

"Lily, how can you eat so little? You'd think after all that... _exercise_ you had last night, you'd be ravenous." Charlotte shot him a look. "Like an animal. A _beast_-" He paused but recieved no responce. "_-_thirsting for-"

"Listen you bloody pervert, whatever you're on about," Charlotte growled, "Keep it to yourself. Nobody really fancies hearing about your sicko fantasies while they're eating." He scowled and Lupin whispered something rather viciously to him. "What an idiot," she grumbled before scarfing down a plateful of eggs. Lily nodded, never taking her eyes off her plate. She felt rather guilty, especially after Charlotte had told him off, but she didn't want Charlotte picking up on it. For the next half an hour, they ate in complete silence, with the exception of Sirius' occasional attempt to bring up the previous night and Charlotte and Remus yelling at him.

"Erm..." Lily began finally. "After this, you should sleep. You look like crap." She grinned as Charlotte looked up at her.

"Yeah well... You look like shit too." She was grinning back. It was amazing how food fueled Charlotte. She was so short, and not in the least bit fat (though, in all fairness, she wasn't as thin as Lily), you would've thought she was immensely malnourished- and she probably ate as much as James or Sirius.

"Should we... head back?" Lily asked. Charlotte nodded as she gulped down the rest of her pumpkin juice.

"Yeah, I think we should," Sirius grinned to Remus, who glared at him, but followed him out.

Charlotte, who had also shot Sirius a rather nasty look, replied calmly, "Yeah, I've got a bit of work left still and I want to sit around on Sunday."

"Yeah, me too. Tomorrow we can just... sit." She laughed nervously and Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

"Erm... Did somebody spike your pumpkin juice?" Lily stopped walking for a moment, until she realized it was a rhetorical question, and continued on her merry way.

* * *

"Pst," Sirius was whispering rather loudly across the common room. "Pst... Psssst... Pst... EVANS... PSSSSSSSSSSSSST!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

"Will you shut UP?" Charlotte slammed her books on the table.

"Are you Evans?" He shot back. She glared at him and he tried to avoid her piercing gaze. "PSSSS-"

"SIRIUS!" Charlotte snapped.

"Hey, look, normally, I wouldn't mind, but please don't get all pissy with me today, Charlie-baby." She was glaring at him again. "Erm..._ Charlotte_." He grumbled, before regaining his usual, extremely cocky, tone. "Because _today_, I have every right to disturb Miss Evans."

"Why is that?" she snapped. He walked over to her and ruffled her dark hair. She slapped his hand away.

"Because," he smirked. "I needed to give her these." And out of his robes, he pulled Lily's clothes, stained with the potion from the night before. "Couldn't find the bra." Lily wanted to run, hide, and die in some little corner. Or explode on the spot, which she very well could've.

"You broke into her room?"

"James', actually."

"You are such an idiot!" She snapped, snatching the clothes and thrusting them at Lily, eyes never leaving Sirius.

"Oh she-" He paused as his eyes met Charlotte's. Lily wanted to throw up. "She left them behind the heat of the moment and James asked me to return them," he said cooly.

"Right."

"And he'll be wanting _his_ clothes back," he growled. "And Petey will be wanting his back," he said as he turned to Charlotte.

"Then he should ask you for them, shouldn't he?"

"Jealous?" Sirius laughed. Lily felt herself breathing again...

"Only that you have a bigger chest than her," Alice Longbottom grinned as she joined them at the table.

"That's probably the _only_ thing," Charlotte laughed.

Sirius looked down at his pants suggestively. "That too?"

"Oh, right! Sorry. Of _course _you're a bigger dick than me," she laughed.

"You hurt me, both of you," he said with mock saddness.

"You'll get over it." Charlotte turned to get back to her work, but he stared at her expectantly. "What?"

"I need a word," he said.

"How about... leave. Or... now... or moron?"

"How about you, me, bed-"

"What do you want?" She spat. "I have work to do."

"In all seriousness- no pun intended," he added quickly, "I would like a word _with you_."

"Alright." She glanced at Alice, avoiding Lily's gaze as she followed him out of the portrait hole.

* * *

"You want to talk to me about last night, I take it?" He nodded. "Yeah, thanks for uh... shutting up about that... in front of her." 

"No problem. You have things you can still blackmail _me_ with, so until you say anything, I'll keep my mouth shut_- except_ when I, you know, want to piss her off._"_

"Whatever."

"So, did she tell you yet?"

"No."

"Alright," he sighed. "Last night, Elise got Lily to erm... drink. And, okay, I'll admit it. I... pointed her James' way for a bit of a laugh. Well, I _did _get my laughs, as you heard when you went with us this morning-"

"You're such an idiot! You got her _drunk_?"

"Well you-"

"I didn't tell you to get her drunk!"

"Hey, in defence for me? Lily, from what I've gathered this morning and what James' told me, was trying to get pretty cozy with James."

"Of course she was! She was drunk!"

"What difference does it make? She was cleary acting on _something_, but was it her subconcious or her-" Charlotte, shooting him a disgusted look, flung her hand over his mouth as a few first years walked by, closely followed by one Remus Lupin, rather engrossed in his book. Charlotte almost didn't trust herself to breathe. _Please don't see us. Please be really _that_ oblivious. Live up to the Marauder name and be an idiot..._

"Imna-ick-er'-and!"

"If you lick my hand, I'll cut your tongue off and force feed it to you," Charlotte snapped, more on impulse than anything else. She instantly flung the hand over Sirius' mouth over hers. Remus' head jerked up.

"Erm..." His face went from puzzled to amused. "You know, Charlotte, that's almost the equivalent of kissing him." Charlotte's hand remained where it was for a moment. Her gaze met Sirius'. They shared a look of pure disgust before she dropped her hand and whiped it Sirius' as if it were contaminated.

"We were talking about last night," Charlotte mumbled. When Remus' amused look spread, she added quickly, "Between James and Lily!"

"I know," Lupin responded innocently.

"She's toying with him!" Sirius started. "She thinks one day she can be rubbing up against him and moaning his name out and the next she can treat him like crap!"

"She wasn't rubbing up against him! Or-"

"Charlotte, that's what James said. I don't think he was making this up-"

"Maybe not conciously! She was doing it in her sleep sure, but she still did it, didn't she? It took every bit of decency he had not to touch her."

"She moaned his name out?" Charlotte looked caught between laughing and yelling. Much to the surprise of both boys, she said in a near whisper, "Look, she's a wreck- I'm trying to protect her same as you're protecting James. Please, don't tell her. I know James is your friend and this is really hard on him- harder than it is for Lily maybe, but you've got to understand, she's so dead set on denying any feeling for him at all. She's still pretending she hasn't woke up snuggling with him- she's probably still scared something more happened. I know Remus won't tell, but Sirus," she looked him dead in the eye. "Don't tell her." It was a strange moment, Charlotte sitting there, _asking_ Sirius for something instead of screaming and hexing him.

"Charlotte!"

"Sirius."

"Al-alright." He nodded.

"Erm... thanks." They exchanged small smiles.

"I'm going to leave you two to have your moment," Remus muttered, clearly unnoticed. (No hexes flew his way.)

As Lupin walked off, they seemed to come to their senses. "And what about this morning, hm? Her forcing herself on him and then throwing him out of his own room? You heard her! You were right there with me and Remus! You want to tell me that's an accident too?"

"Lily knows how to get things out of James, I suppose! Boys are easy to manipulate. It's not _our _fault you're stupid that way."

"Stupid that way? He's got the girl of his dreams- whom, let's not forget, has convinced herself she hates him- throwing herself at him and you're calling _him_ stupid?"

* * *

"Remus?" A rather nervous looking Lily was looking up at him desperately. 

"Yeah?"

"Did you... er... see Charlotte?"

"Yeah, she was outside with Sirius."

"You didn't happen to catch what they were..."

"Talking about?" He gave her a kind smile before saying, "He hasn't told her. Don't worry. They're just fighting about the usual."

"Oh." She looked shocked for a moment until she remembered he'd been there that morning. "Erm... thanks." He nodded and walked up to the dorms feeling like just as big of a liar as Lily had with Charlotte. _But it's for the best_.

"What was that about?" He heard Alice ask her curiously.

"Oh... erm... Hogsmeade," she said lamely.

"Lily, if you don't want to talk about it, just say so."

"I'll tell you later," Lily sighed. She wasn't sure why she'd tell Alice and not Charlotte. Alice would tell Frank, who, of course, was a very close friend of theirs, and whom Lily trusted. He wouldn't tell anyone either. But Charlotte wouldn't tell _anyone_. So why didn't she want to tell her?

* * *

"All I'm saying is, I've never seen him look at a girl like that." 

"Like how? Taking a good look at her face _before_ checking her cup size?"

"I'm not kidding! Charlotte, if you could see him! He's been moody all day. It's awful. If James did something to make Lily act like that, you'd have ripped us all new ones, involved or not, but never mind James and _his _feelings!"

"That's not true," Charlotte grumbled. "I've known James Potter longer than you have. He was like my second family. I see it too, alright?"

"Yeah?" He shot back, though not quite as harshly as before, "Then what do you propose to do about it?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You won't let me do things my way, so let's hear _your_ way. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. _What?_ You don't have something to say to that, Smartass?"

"I planned everything for you guys _for a reason_," she snapped. "_Dumb _ass."

"Yeah, cause you knew-"

"That's not the reason and you know it!"

"You didn't even let me finish!"

"I know what you're going to say!"

"Because-"

"Shut up. Do you want to hear my idea or not?"

"First, how many rules are we talking about breaking?"

Charlotte looked up at him, a small amount of worry etched in her face. "About half."

"Perfect," he smirked.

"And-"

"There's an and?" He knew it. _Of course_ she'd know he didn't care about a few stupid rules...

"We have to er... get into the tournament."

"You've gotta be bloody kidding me." She shrugged. "Well," he sighed, "I guess it's gotta be worth a shot- this had better be good." He caught her eye. "Erm... please."

* * *

**Okay, so I've written the damn thing! lmao.**

**I'm rather proud of this chapter, as I've written it, 3 months of grueling writer's block later, all in the time span of this one sitting. Which was, if I'm correct, a good 4 hours long. I've edited and re-edited this thing (and fit a few fights or two from about 7 different very long, completed, drafts, believe it or not), so hopefully it makes sense. I _still _am feeling so out of it when I write this, but I'm trying to get it done _well_ and not so much as soon (though I really do need to pick things up, don't you think?). But I thought it was pretty decent, and hope somewhat that it, and the chapters that follow it, are fit to compete with the first chapter.**

**It's really long, but I had to fit in all in here. Lots and lots of dialogue. I had to be really annoying about how I worded everything. **

**AH. And, btw, the tournament she's talking about is the Tri-Wizard tournament. I've decided they get to go through that. I think I'm going to make different events for it than the ones in the book. Not sure. Cause, I mean, if they had the same events every year it would sort've lessen the fear a little, wouldn't it? They'd be prepared for it. So, even though I'm keeping the second task regardless, I'm thinking of changing the first and tweaking the third. My imagination has yet to allow me to do so though. So we'll see.**

**Also, does anybody know whether or not Dumbledore was headmaster yet by then? That's sort've important. Haha.**

**Mkay, well, that's about it. I hope you liked it so far. As the plot thickens, hopefully it won't stay as confusing... did this chapter make any sense at all?**

**Okay, well regardless, REVIEW. Please please please review. Or I will cry. I have a very very high number of people who've _read _the story but not reviewed. Like a ridiculously high amount. And anonymous people can review now too (I sound like I'm selling something... lmao.)... I just realized I had that blocked. lol. So, okay, PLEASE review. I can't stress that enough. )**

**Okay, thanks. The next chapter should be up soon... after maticulous (sp?) planning on which direction, exactly, I want this to go.**

**So... that's enough of me talking to myself. Hope you liked it. :)**


	3. All Is Odd

**In defence for myself... I didn't have time to write at all this week and started a while ago- so I got just enough time to be spell checker before I'm rushed to the other side of the world- DUN DUN DUN... or out of state. Your call, really...**

**I do not, as of yet, intend to edit this chapter in any way, but I'm a little worried that Charlotte (yes, I blame _her_ haha) might've tripped up in a few of her sentences and I may have worded things so my plot is ruined. sob sob No, but seriously, I may have to tweak this slightly. I doubt it though. BUT! The spelling errors are gone and I've learned that, apparently, cooly is, in fact, spelled "coolly". ****It's kind of sad that it took me until now to learn this- but I'm in denial, because Word has failed me several times before. Haha. Oh well. **

**SO! With that said: Read away! (That was lame, I'm pretending it wasn't.)**

* * *

It was Sunday and Lily had barely started her homework. So it took both Alice's pleading and Charlotte's threats of blackmail for her to finally get up for breakfast that morning. Really, it wasn't just the homework- she _could_ finish it. It was the fact that for the first time since 'the incident' as she referred to it (when absolutely forced to talk about it), she would be subjected to James Potter. And every other student who had, undoubtedly, heard about it by now.

"Lily, stop it," Charlotte nodded towards Lily's leg, which she'd anxiously been knocking up and down against the table and her seat.

Much to her relief, Lily had finally told her what was going on- or to a certain extent. She'd left out a few key details, but Charlotte was okay with that. At least now she could defend Lily in public instead of playing dumb. Charlotte didn't especially fancy having her friend hiding things from her either; they'd always been able to confide in one another _before_. Now shouldn't have been any different. She supposed this was hard for Lily to talk about. It was clear she was ashamed of herself for so much as calling James by his first name- but the point was, she'd told! ... mostly. And it wasn't as if Charlotte could tell Lily she already knew the _whole_ story. Then _she'd_ have to explain herself and that... well, that wasn't really an option.

And now, Lily was subconsciously banging her leg against the table once more. "Look, there's nothing to be nervous about!" she hissed. "Everyone loves you to a sickening extent, okay? I mean, you saw what happened when that Malfoy idiot called you a... you-know-what a few years back. Everybody that wasn't a loser Slytherine gave him hell for it."

"That's true," Alice added reassuringly. "It's not a big deal- and besides, you've got me and Charlotte- you know that, right?" Lily nodded. "Don't worry about it," she smiled, giving her friend a small hug.

"Besides... think of it this way: _nobody_ can have that much self assurance and still be stupid enough to upset _you."_

"Hey Sleeping Beauty!" Sirius sauntered over to the seat across from Lily, as if on cue. Charlotte groaned as a few snickers followed the comment, and Lily looked as if her life goal was to bash her head on the table.

"Rumplestiltskin," Charlotte replied back rather boredly.

"Oh look, it's Leprechaun back from her night journeys," Sirius grinned, slapping her on the back. "And speaking of night journeys, I know two people that did a decent amount of exploring two nights ago-"

"You know, I was just telling her how stupid someone would have to be to harass her about this, and you've just proved my point."

"Sirius is very good at that." Remus had appeared behind them, and took the seat across from Charlotte. "Are you going to sit down?" After a moment, he looked up at Sirius, who begrudgingly complied.

"So," Alice began after a few uncomfortable moments of silence, "Erm... nice day, isn't it?"

"Of course," Sirius replied in sarcastic politeness, taking a sip of his juice. "Lovely."

"Nothing like a good day outdoors when it's hailing, eh Charlotte?" James had seated himself next to Remus. Charlotte, whose normally pale features were now giving off a tinge of pink, glared and kicked him under the table.

_"What?"_ Lily looked up from her food at last. "He's right... it's hailing." James, who'd just caught Lily's gaze, was now examining his spoon with immense interest. _Smooth..._

"Oh," Charlotte's expression was rather odd. "I know."

"Double meaning?" James muttered to his plate.

"How's your breakfast coming along there _Jamesie_?" Sirius growled.

"Hope you don't choke on it or anything," Charlotte muttered.

"Great thanks. _So_, where were you last night?" He asked casually.

"Oh yeah, where _were_ you?" Frank Longbottom looked up from his newspaper curiously, oblivious to the glare Charlotte was giving James.

"I was here."

"Hm. Come to think of it... I didn't see you the night before either," Frank muttered, frowning to himself.

"I-I dunno why- I mean... I _was_ there."

"Mhm, she was," Alice piped up.

"Really? Because I definitely didn't see you at the party either," James replied, grinning at her.

"Maybe," Charlotte began coolly, "That was because you left early."

"Oh yeah, where were you, James? Peter was looking for you." Frank was clearly oblivious.

"Yeah James, where were you?" Sirius smiled.

"Can someone pass the eggs?" Lily asked, very flustered.

"Prongise, please pass Lily the sperm- I mean _eggs,_" Sirius said.

"Suddenly, I'm not all that hungry," Lily growled, shooting a filthy look at Sirius.

Frank gave a look to Charlotte and Alice that plainly said, _Should I even ask?_ Charlotte shook her head and Alice began to shovel food onto her plate.

"Is she okay?" Frank mouthed over her head. Charlotte nodded. She'd noticed it too- Alice had shut up around Frank. She barely said more than a sentence to the guy before she found a reason not to talk. At the moment, this reason took the form of several pieces of toast.

"Oh gosh, don't starve yourself, Alice," Sirius remarked with mock concern.

"Shut up," Lily snapped.

"Prongsie, is there any special reason why your girlfriend is in such a bad mood?" James nearly choked on his food, but continued to eat in silence. There was something unnerving about this James Potter- something that made Lily almost prefer the old one. If _he_ wasn't laughing about it, how could she? What if he truly resented her for... _the incident_? It wasn't as if she minded him disliking her- she didn't. _Really!_ But it was more of him being right in disliking her. What if he thought she was trampy? What if the entire school got on her back for this? What if-

"Go to hell, Black," Charlotte muttered into her glass, shattering Lily's thoughts.

Remus sighed. "Anybody seen Peter?"

"Yeah- he has detention with stupid Slughorn."

"How can you get detention with _Slughorn?_" Lily asked incredulously.

"Detention does, in fact, await those of us that _aren't_ in the Slub Club, Lily," Sirius replied.

"That's _Slug_ Club, _moron_!"

"I'm not in the _Slug Club!_"

Charlotte snorted. "Right... so anyway. Don't you guys have a theme song?"

"I'm not! And no- no they don't- I'm not!"

"It's not a bad thing, being a suck up," Sirius shrugged, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"Am I suck up?" Lily looked around the table. Frank and Alice, as expected, assured her that she wasn't one. Charlotte, however, had took a long, rather meaningful, gulp of pumpkin juice. She grinned at Lily's expression, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"At least you're not a pig," Sirius said, jerking his head in Charlotte's direction.

"Yeah," Charlotte agreed, staring pointedly at Sirius.

"Evans, I love you, but really, you can't pretend you're not a teacher's pet," James laughed. Lily felt slightly relieved when he addressed her, though the part that didn't was rather disturbed by said relief. "And I think that your best political move would be to sleep with the Head Boy before you get the teacher's on your-"

"Potter," she grumbled, fighting the building relief from her voice, "I'd rather do a werewolf." Instantly, she regretted her words- though nobody, apart from the Marauders, would understand what she meant, they'd harass her incessantly for saying it. She hadn't thought about Remus' condition for so long, she'd almost forgotten about it. This wasn't exactly the way she imagined being reminded.

Sirius snorted so hard that he'd gotten juice all over himself. Even James, who was fighting to keep his own face straight after catching Remus' reaction (he was choking on his eggs and rather pink), was shaking in attempts not to laugh.

"Kinky," Sirius finally managed between laughs, causing James to burst out laughing.

"Alright there, Remus?" Charlotte asked- he did look rather uncomfortable.

"Erm... yeah."

"You don't look... nevermind... _Hey_, so Frank... when you're done with your breakfast," she paused, glancing up at Sirius before continuing, "Could I have a word?" Sirius, though still laughing, watched Frank intently.

"Sure," he replied awkwardly. "I'm done right now, actually-"

"Perfect," she said, standing up.

"Whaddya need with Frank?" James asked suspiciously. "Isn't usually Sirius you sneak off-"

"Piss off," she snapped before turning her back on him. "Ready then, Longbottom?" He nodded and she dragged him off.

"Wonder what that was about," Lily muttered, voicing what everyone else but Sirius was thinking.

"Doesn't matter!" Sirius laughed. "Not at all. No, who cares? I mean, it's Charlotte- when's _she_ ever up to something?" They all stared at him. "Right." He sounded rather defeated. "Well... so... how about that Transfiguration homework?"

"You didn't do it," James muttered, frowning.

"Hm... about that Charms- no... about Ginger... whatever-her-last-name-is," he muttered. "What do you lot think of her?"

* * *

"What'd he say?" Sirius asked Charlotte eagerly. 

"He agreed to it."

"Can we trust him to stay quiet?"

"Frank?" She laughed. "I'd trust him before I'd trust you."

"I'll take that as a maybe."

"We can trust him," she hissed. "He said he'll talk to Alice- though she might not be so eager to help."

_"Alice?"_

"She looked so... so _mad_ when I was leaving today-"

"Oh, that's cause she thought you were moving in on her territory."

"I was _what_?"

"She likes Frank," Sirius said simply.

"What?" She laughed. "Where'd you-"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Honestly, aren't girls supposed to be sensitive to this stuff?"

"That would explain... _so much_... and actually... _wait_. Are you _sure_?"

"Yeah."

"That could work to our advantage."

"We might need it," Sirius sighed. "Lily already thinks you're up to something."

"We could use that to our advantage too... manipulate things a bit, you know?"

"You have control issues."

"Thanks."

* * *

"Alright there, Evans?" James Potter was leaning on the back of the couch, staring down at her. She jerked up, knocking a few pillows to the ground. 

"Erm... yeah. I-I'm just... thinking." He looked worried. "About Charlotte," she added hastily."

"Is everything alright with her?" Normally, she would've told him to mind his own business, but she had a bad feeling that whatever her friend was up to, it involved him... and she needed to warn him somehow.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course! She's fine... it's just... she's up to something. I can just tell. I don't know _what _she's up to, but she's planning something."

"Anybody ever tell you you're paranoid?"

"Shut up, Potter. I'm serious- I know her well-"

"You forget who you're talking to," he laughed. "I've known her longer than you... she's not doing anything she'd have a problem admitting openly- don't get me wrong. It's not like she couldn't be planning the end of the world. It's just that, if she is, she must be doing it minus the unforgivable curses. Or... you know... only using the imperius or something." Lily glared. "Seriously though, Lils- it's not anything to worry about. You do trust me, don't you?" She was about to nod when she slapped out of it.

"No, I don't," she snapped, getting up. "She's up to something- and it involves us!" He raised an eyebrow, amused. "I don't know what it is, but I _know_ it involves us- or she would've approached us by now. You know, told us what she's up to. I'm surprised she hasn't recruited Sirius and Remus-" She broke off, eyes wide.

"What?"

"She has! Her and your bloody friends are going to do something! And she's corrupting our only allies!" She looked positively horrified. Her hands were on her head and she was pacing the room, muttering to herself.

"Hey- hey! Hold it Lils- Sirius and Charlotte _don't_ work together. Have you seen them talk?"

"They are! James, I know it! They are- _what?_" He was staring at her.

"You called me James." Her cheeks flushed.

"That's your name, isn't it?" She snapped, recovering quickly. He shrugged, ruffling his hair slightly. She glared at him before continuing, "They're up to something- and when I find out what it is, I'm going to- to... I don't know yet, but Charlotte's going to have another thing coming!"

"Gee, the trust you share with her is incredible," he muttered in mock amazement.

"Shut up- I trust her... just not when things have to do with... the things they do now."

"Us?" James smirked.

"Shut up- are you going to help me?" She asked with forced anger. He shrugged again.

"Sure?"

"We're going to find out," she repeated. "And whatever they have planned... they have another thing coming."

"Whatever you say, Evans."

* * *

"Where have you been?" Ginger snapped, storming into the boy's dorms. 

"Homework," Sirius lied.

"Sirius," Charlotte muttered from the bathroom, "I found-" She broke off when she saw Ginger. "Oh, hey-"

"With _Charlotte_? What was the subject? _Anatomy?_" She looked hurt. Charlotte, on the other hand, simply looked confused.

"I told her how we were _studying_," Sirius said bluntly, nodding his head as he said the last word.

"Just tell her the truth," Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Ginger, we were-"

"The truth," Ginger growled. "The truth... As in, my boyfriend is lying about why he was in his room... alone... with a girl?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that!" Charlotte laughed, "Really, it's not. We're just-"

"You were '_just'!_ What do you take me for, an idiot?"

"Of course not," Charlotte replied coolly, the humor gone from her face. "More along the lines of a overly-conclusive dumbass."

"Charlie, you're not helping," Sirius hissed.

"You have _nicknames_?" Ginger, much to Charlotte's surprise and utter amazement (I mean this _was_ just Sirius Black), looked near tears.

"Oh no," Charlotte began sarcastically. "She's discovered our secret, Mittens." Ginger made a face and walked over to Sirius. Without a moment's warning she began kissing him. Charlotte turned away, disgusted.

"How do you like _that_?" She snapped to Charlotte.

"Didn't really fancy seeing it, actually-"

"Well get used to it!" She hissed before racing down the stairs.

"Wow," Charlotte yelled after her. "You sure taught _us_." She turned to Sirius. "Wow, what a punishment, huh? She thinks you're cheating on her, so she kisses you."

"She believes in break up sex, that one does," Sirius muttered mindlessly. Charlotte's imitation of retching jerked him out of whatever thoughts he'd been caught up in, and he grinned without shame when he _did_ come back to the real world.

"So've you entered your name into the Goblet?"

"Yeah- you?"

"Yeah. I heard they're doing it differently though. They're sending multiple contenders into it now."

"But it's the _tri-_wizard-"

"Yeah, but Dumbledore's pretending it can be interpreted as 3 _schools_, because otherwise Durmstrang's headmaster was going to have a hissy fit."

"Since when did Dumbledore-"

"It doesn't matter- did James enter?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "What if _he _gets-"

"He won't."

"You saw?" She nodded. "What, do you just set these things off in your spare time? Like 'hm, let's see how I'm going to die today'-"

"_No,_" she snapped. "I saw it _then_," she whispered as Frank walked in.

"Am I... interrupting-"

"Ah, Frank," Sirius grinned. "You know what you're supposed to do, right?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "I talked to Alice, too- she seemed really relieved that someone's finally getting those two together."

"Yeah," Charlotte smirked as she eyed him.

"What?" Frank asked nervously.

"Nothing. Just... had a bit of inspiration is all."

"Yeah?" Clearly this hadn't comforted Frank at all.

"It's nothing bad!" She laughed.

* * *

Peter crept quietly to the door, as instructed. He was to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Three people, whose voices he'd recognized pretty quickly (well... for him at least...) were whispering excitedly to one another. He assumed this would count. 

"Right... well, _then_, when do we start doing this?"

"I need to get sick first," Charlotte was saying.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"Because! Then _she_ will be in bed and I can lie to her and tell her I'm not causing problems or anything- we can pretend like it was an accident."

"But you're not-" Frank Longbottom started.

"No, but I _will_ be talking to a few _old friends_. Lily has to... erm... re-connect a few... _severed_ ties," she replied somewhat wickedly. _Could she mean Snape?_

"And then what?"

"Then? Then we wait- he'll do the rest of it for us- I'd feel bad toying with him if he wasn't a Slytherin... oh and Diggory. We need him too," she muttered.

"Who _else _have you two dragged into this?" Longbottom sounded impressed.

"Dumbledore," Charlotte laughed.

"Minnie," Sirius added.

_"McGonagall,"_ Charlotte corrected. "A few others- best leave them out. For your benefit, of course, Frank. Oh! And don't tell Alice- we would've, but we're worried she'd tell Lily."

"Right," Frank replied. "Right... okay, well... must be off." Peter gasped and raced down the stairs as fast as he could, Longbottom's steps not far behind him.

For a full minute, the boys' dorms were silent before either finally spoke.

"You think Petey heard us?" Sirius asked.

"Definitely," Charlotte smirked back. "This is too easy."

* * *

**Not a huge part of the plot moving, I know! Or at least, it doesn't seem like it. But I need to set it up a certain way... and I don't have much time to mess with it, as I'm leaving for Hawaii in... two hours... **_(I seriously should **not** be up right now... it's 4 A.M.)_ **YAY! ... sort've. That might effect my updating a bit (obviously) seeing as my dad rarely let's me onto his laptop, but I'll write everything in my notebook and type it up as soon as I get back. I'll be gone until... a week from now? Or... okay, a day less than that. But I might have a bit of jet lag, so I'll give myself the full week. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**PLEASE REVIEW. Pretty pretty please? I live off of reviews. I or... rather... just enjoy them... A LOT! So it makes me sad when I don't get any. :( (LOL that sounded a bit bad but maybe only because I think that way? Probably. Gotta love maturity... But I degress...)**

**Anyway/who/what-have-you, I'll update as quick as I can! I may not be able to get on _here_ in Hawaii, but I can check my yahoo (lilyandjamesplot), so if you want to make any suggestions toward the plot or would like to help me edit what I've got done so far (at that point), feel free to e-mail me on that. I'd actually really appreciate it. :) Though ****I have the plot planned out to an obsessively detailed extent, (believe it or not) at the same time, I've left myself enough room so I can change it if I have/want to.**

**SO! on that note...**

**REVIEW!!! That way I have something nice (even if the comment itself isn't all that nice) to come back to after my vacation. :)**

**Thanks. :)**

**Emilia**


	4. Brutal, but not Boring

**BACK FROM HAWAII... as of like... really early yesterday.**

**Okay... so one thing you guys...!!!!!**

**Does this seem like another transition chapter? Cause that's what I'm afraid of. I don't want the same boring, formatted... _thing _over and over. So... if you guys could tell me how I'm doing on that, I'd really appreciate it...**

**Oh, and, of course, none of this belongs to me.**

**Except Charlotte.**

* * *

Even if, at breakfast, the two schools that would be competing against Hogwarts in the Tri-Wizard tournament **hadn't** _finally _arrived, after the freak snow storm had kept them back for so long... even if the names of the competitors **weren't** to be pulled in the next 24 hours... even if she'd **had** classes that day... She would regret ever mentioning how bored she was to Charlotte. 

Lily Evans was going to have an extremely eventful day.

This was not a good thing.

* * *

Hard as it was to believe, Sirius had merely been sitting in the common room, minding his own business. He was even doing his homework. Lily had to do a double take, but when she realized that he was, in fact, not doing anything wrong, she decided this behavior was extremely suspicious. _He must be covering up for something!... like... maybe whatever it is they have planned!_

She decided, after what Peter had told James and herself that morning, that Charlotte and Sirius _definitely _had something up their sleeves. She'd also decided that she was going to approach them and hope they slipped when she asked them strategic questions...

"I know what you're doing!" She snapped, slamming her book on the table in front of him. _Okay, so maybe strategy wasn't her thing, but Sirius never could resist the chance to brag about whatever idiocy he had planned._

"Charms?" He offered. "Wow, Evans. You should be a detective."

"Don't play innocent with me! I know you and Charlotte are up to something."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "Well, this is news to me. Pray tell, what _are_ we up to?" He leaned on his elbows, looking up at her intently. She realized just how stupid she sounded, and sat down.

"Well," she hissed, "I don't know-"

"I thought you said you knew." He smirked. He was _laughing _at her!

"I _do_ know," she began impatiently, "that it has something to do with me and James."

"Is that right?"

"And Charlotte getting sick and switching with me-" He was grinning broader than ever. _She took the bait..._ "What are you grinning about?"

He hadn't realized he'd been smiling, but recovered easily enough. "Do you realize how ridiculous you sound? Firstly, your bestest buddy hates my guts, Lils. She'd sooner try to give McGonagall a lap dance than _agree_ with me. Secondly, she'd choose your side over anybody's anyway, and thirdly... if we _were_, don't you think she'd be smart enough to hide it from you?" He paused for dramatic effect. "Unless... you know... she _wanted_ you to be suspicious..."

She gaped at him. "What are you up to?" She growled.

"Frank!" He called to a boy emerging from the dorms behind her. "Just the chap I was looking for. I need your help with... _things_. Apparently, they're on to us," he hissed to Frank just loudly enough for Lily to hear. Upon seeing her look of horror, he winked at her. She scowled and grabbed her books.

"You're not getting to me, Sirius Black," she insisted. "Not at all!" She stood up, very eager to escape his company.

"Evans, running away doesn't suit you."

"I'm not! I'm... going to lunch."

* * *

"You alright, Lily?" Frank asked when he'd caught up with her. She was debating on whether or not to ignore him. Really, now was as good a time as any... Crossing her fingers that it would go better than it had with Sirius, she took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for the worst anyway. 

"About this whole plan thing," she began.

"What 'plan thing'?"

"Frank, cut the crap," she laughed. "I know you guys are up to something."

He frowned. "Who?"

"You, Charlotte, Sirius-"

"If you're talking about what Sirius said back there, I didn't have the slightest idea what he was talking about either when he'd said it- but he told me once you were out of earshot that it was just to scare you."

"Right."

"If he'd been telling me about some master plan, how would I have caught up to you so fast?"

"I don't-"

"And why would _Charlotte_ be planning something with Sirius _against _you? Of all people, she'd be the _last _one, really. She'd much rather do something mean to him with your help. Really, Lils, you've got to stop being so paranoid-"

"But- but-" she spluttered. "I know you guys are up to something! Even Peter-"

"Peter?" Frank raised an eyebrow. "Pettigrew? As in... the_ Marauder_? Sirius probably has him messing with you too-"

"But he _told_ James and I-"

"Since when have _you_ trusted James?"

"I-"

"I'm heading down to lunch- do you want to come?"

Frustrated and at a loss for what else to say, she hissed, "No, I don't! Frank Longbottom, you are a liar and a traitor, and you should be ashamed of yourself!"

"... Erm... okay?" He shot her a confused look and she stormed off. _And Charlotte thought he'd have a hard time hiding it from her... Psh._

* * *

When Lily walked into the Great Hall, she found Charlotte standing with Bellatrix. 

"I could do it-"

_"Here!"_ Bellatrix thrust a piece of paper at her. "What do you need it for anyway?" Charlotte had seen Lily out of the corner of her eye, and stealthily pointed her out to Bellatrix before whispering something Lily didn't quite catch.

"Oh, _that_ ought to be entertaining. Are you _really?_"

"Yeah-"

"Okay, she's coming... I'm going to go- _don't_ though! If you do-"

"I've got more on you than that," Charlotte retorted, turning quickly to face her friend. "_Lily_!" She smiled. _Pants. _"Let's sit- eat- shall we?" Lily rolled her eyes but nodded. For the next few minutes, they were quiet. After all, covering your entire plate with food took a lot of concentration. Especially when one of the people occupied with such a task was dead set on _not_ talking...

"I know what you're up to!" Lily hissed as soon as they were situated.

"I told Sirius he shouldn't have left it in the closet," Charlotte groaned. It was all Lily could do not to gape. She'd expected Charlotte to deny it or ignore her... not to admit to it. Especially since she'd given such little evidence of truly _knowing_... And even_ Frank _had given her a hard time... unless he wasn't involved? But her instinct told her he was. And it was also telling her to play along.

"The closet?"

"Yeah..." Charlotte replied, taking a sip of water.

"Right... Yeah, I found it."

"Fyi, James still doesn't think we're up to anything." Sirius whispered to Charlotte as he passed where she sat. So as not to look suspicious, Charlotte glared at him and he smirked. His newest girlfriend, Penelope, burst into tears.

"What's that about?" Lily frowned.

"Penelope is Ravenclaw's very own special ed s-"

"Charlotte!" Lily bit back a laugh.

"She is!"

"Why would you say that?"

"Look who she's dating... and look how upset she is because he whispered-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"It's not as if she's caught us in a _broom_ _closet_ or something..." Lily's ears perked up. She'd almost forgot.

"Oh, right," she muttered, no longer listening. "I'm going to go... start Potions."

"Wait a minute," Charlotte said hastily. "I'm almost done and I have to start to-"

"I've been having a hard time with it," Lily replied nervously. "I'll help you when I'm done."

"Okay." _Charlotte isn't fighting me on this... why isn't she fighting this?_

"Bye!" She was practically sprinting out of the Great Hall.

"Toodles."

The table was silent for a minute, until James got up to leave. "C'mon Remus," he grinned.

"Remus!" Charlotte and Sirius yelled at the same time.

"Yeah?" He looked rather puzzled.

"We... need to speak with you," Charlotte started.

"Uh..."

"For a long time," Sirius added.

"I offered to help James with his Potions, guys-"

"Lily can help him!" Charlotte said, waving the comment aside.

"What do you need-"

"Paint," Sirius said quite seriously. _Paint?_ Charlotte mouthed, making a face.

"Paint...?" Apparently Remus was not especially convinced either.

"Oh _yeah! _Yup! Remember? You said... you'd help us paint... that one thing?"

"Yeah! The... the... that... one thing," Sirius echoed.

"Have you two been _sniffing _paint, perhaps? Because-"

"I remember too," Frank chimed in nervously.

"Maybe... drinking it? And then given Frank a sip?"

"Remus, you're so funny- isn't he hilarious?" Sirius asked a passing Slytherin. The Slytherin scowled and kept walking. "YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, KEEP WALKING-"

"_Shut_ _up_, Sirius," Charlotte hissed. "But yes- let's go! Sorry James- maybe you _should_ ask Lily though- She's working on it too."

"I thought she didn't get it either-"

"Always the kidder, aren't you Remus?" Sirius growled, shooting him a look. _Shut up, Moony! _He mouthed. Lupin had picked up the message _before_ he'd seen this, but still didn't trust the pair.

Even still, he sighed and nodded. "Right. The paint- sorry, James. I forgot." He shot Charlotte a look that quite plainly said _you better explain_ and followed them reluctantly.

"I'll tell you in a sec," Frank whispered, ushering him away from James and glancing back nervously every few moments. Charlotte, on the other hand, looked somewhat harassed and was clearly trying to get the attention of someone on the other side of the room.

"Just go!" Charlotte hissed to nobody (or at least that James could see), and the group of them fled the Great Hall, leaving a slightly annoyed, and very confused James behind. Before he could follow them, however, an owl landed in front of him, a red envelope tied to its leg. James paled. _What'd I do now?_

"JAMES POTTER!" His mother's voice was already echoing through the Great Hall. _Stupid Howler..._ "THE NEXT TIME I HEAR ABOUT YOU SLEEPING IN THE SAME BED AS THAT POOR HEAD GIRL-"

Charlotte turned to Sirius in mid run. "YOU PUT THAT IN THERE?" She snapped, slapping his forearm.

"Ouch," he whined. "And yes, I did, _Charlotte. _You said you needed to keep him in the Great Hall for a few minutes- so I just figured if anything could keep him from making a run for it, it would be Evans." He looked rather proud of himself.

"Fine... but just so you know... that's _really_ creepy... how you can imitate Mrs. Potter that way."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

* * *

"THIS IS JUST... JUST... BLOODY EXCELLENT!" She bellowed, kicking the door in frustration. She just **HAD** to go into the closet. 'I_ told _Sirius...' Of _course_ Charlotte wouldn't have told her... 

And now she was trapped inside with nothing to do but bang on the door and yell until someone heard her. But, of course, the chances were slim. Clearly, Charlotte had made sure of _that_. She was, after all, in the head dorms. And nobody had reason to come in there...

_Why does she want me out of the way?_

"Lily?" She heard James' familiar voice from behind the door.

"In here!" She shouted. _Why _does _she want me out of the way?... this isn't a very well thought out plan though- I mean, she should've known, James would find me. He'd come right after lunch... _Realization had just slapped her across the face. "JAMES! NO, DON'T-" But it was too late. He'd already touched the doorknob and had just been sucked into the door.

"If you wanted to be alone with me, all you had to do was ask," he smirked.

"_I_ didn't do this!" She shouted indignantly.

"Yeah? Then who?" He bit his lip, trying to think of who would want to lock them up together. Surprisingly, that didn't narrow it down very much (or at least not in his opinion)...

"I'll give you one guess." _I am stuck in a closet for god knows how long..._ She glanced at him to see if he'd actually caught on. Lily had thought it would be obvious, and was somewhat hopeful when he'd opened his mouth to speak. But, rather than yell 'CHARLOTTE!' as she had less than ten minutes ago, he'd muttered something about _painters_ and groaned. She slapped her head.

..._with an idiot._

* * *

"Have you seen James?" Peter asked one of the Gryffindors in the halls. But he merely shook his head. 

Usually, Peter would've offered a "thanks anyway" and asked the nearest non-Slytherin student, but instead, fled from the room, thoroughly creeped out. He could've sworn he'd heard the high pitched cackle of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Well I'll be damned. The mudblood's really going to give it a shot." She paused, chewing her lip. This _could _get good... "Cissy!"

* * *

**Here it is.**

**Like I said, I'd totally appreciate it if you told me whether or not it even sounds like thes story is going somewhere. I'm worried it'll read like I'm just trying to make it look like I update all the time (which, as I'm sure you're all well aware of by now, I don't... I just don't have time- even though it's summer!).**

**I'm posting this now, simply because I can't find anything wrong with it at the moment... but then again it's 6:30 in the morning and I haven't slept all night. ****So if you spot any mistakes, point 'em out please, and I'll change it. I've checked it like 8 times, so I'm probably not going to catch it if there _is_ one.**

**Mkay. Goodnight...**

**Erm... morning.**

**REVIEW PLEASE! I'll return the favor... for some reason I've taken up doing that...**

**Oh... mkay... and... by the way!!!!!! if you're bored, I beg of you, go read Mudblood, Actually. :) And then if you actually review, I'll love you forever. Haha.**

**Like I said, hope this was okay. (I'm pretty sure I _always_ say that, really...)**

**Toodles.**


	5. Old Update

**Readers, (PLEASE ACTUALLY READ THIS... thanks)**

Okay, so most of you have probably given up the idea that I've even looked at this story for the past few months. In all actuality, I have written and re-written it several times. My problem is, however, that I really didn't like how cliche it was and how careless I made the plot. So, of course, I actually _have_ a plot now (actually, several, which is why it's taking so long), more based around Lily and James (and a couple other ships). So basically, know that I AM writing and I swear it's going to be up soon. I'm going to delete everything after the first chapter, as that was the only bit of the story that I really liked. The plot will be better, I swear. I'm just not 100 percent sure how long it'll take me. If anybody wants to read the old plot (I'd basically finished it) or maybe be the equivalent of an editor, e-mail me at my _yahoo_ account "_lilyandjamesplot_". Obviously it's not my main e-mail (though I'll check it at least once every few days), but I can't give _that_ out, as I'm trying to keep who I am on this site a secret from my friends.

They can be pains about me updating or changing stuff and I don't want them influencing what I do at all. You can probably understand, feeling a bit self concious about sharing stuff with friends that don't much like writing? I just don't want to feel like I have to hold back incase they read it.

But yeah... as I've said, if you simply want to read what happened in the first story, I'll be glad to copy and paste it in an e-mail (obviously it's easier than having you download something).

So, that's about all I can say so far. E-mail me if you have any questions and what not.

I honestly just like hearing from you guys- it means people are actually reading what I put on here.

Wish me luck! (I'm probably gonna need it.)

**Emilia**

**(which is a penname, yes)**

**_OH. And also, if you want to read the new version of the story, e-mail me. I have a lot of different versions and I seriously need someone's imput. Haha._**

**_Thanks guys! I really appreciate those of you who are patient enough to _still_ be waiting for me to hurry up. lol._**


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